Firearm component having improved grippability

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a firearm component having improved grippability for use with a firearm, such as a pistol, revolver, or other suitable handgun, and a method for manufacturing same. The firearm component hereof includes an abrasive material deposited onto at least a portion thereof. The abrasive material is selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, sapphire, and carbide. Preferably, the abrasive material is either natural or synthetic diamond ground down to micron-sized diamond particulates. The diamond particulates are then deposited onto at least a portion of the firearm component by way of electroplating, electroless plating, or brazing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a completion application which claims the priority benefit of co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/351,366, filed Jun. 17, 2016, for “Gun Slide Having Improved Grippability,” the entire disclosure of which, including the drawing, is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to firearms. More particularly, the present invention pertains to means and methods for improving the grippability of firearms. Even more particularly, the present invention concerns means and methods for improving the grippability of individual firearm components.

2. Description of Related Art

To operate a handheld firearm, specifically a semi-automatic pistol having a slide, the shooter retracts the slide to arm or “cock” the firearm which loads a bullet from the cartridge. Oftentimes, the slide may become challenging to move as it is typically a smooth, substantially cylindrical piece of metal. Providing a pistol with a slide having an improved grip would solve the difficulties one encounters in arming or cocking the firearm.

Another commonly used style of a handheld firearm is a revolver. Revolvers include a cylinder having multiple chambers for storing a bullet within each chamber. Revolvers also include a barrel which aligns with a chamber for directing a fired bullet out of the firearm. Instead of operating a slide to cock the firearm, as one does with a pistol, a revolver is cocked by retracting a rear hammer away from the cylinder with one's thumb or supporting hand. Retracting the hammer rotates the cylinder in order to align a subsequent chamber with the barrel.

In the course of their routine use, firearms are typically exposed to harsh environments in which they are subjected to corrosion and/or abrasion. Such environments adversely affect both the external and the internal components of the firearm, which results in rusting, scratching, excessive wear, and the like. This can lead to a decrease in useful life, unreliability, and faulty operation. Even the moisture and corrosive compounds that come into contact with a firearm due to atmospheric conditions or simply from user-handling can result in degradation of the integrity of the firearm.

In the past, the prior art has taught making modifications to the structural and material compositions of a firearm in order to improve its physical properties and be able to withstand such abrasive environments.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,112,930 to Sietsema teaches methods and compositions for strengthening the components of a firearm to combat the aforementioned wear by depositing a first and a second layer of wear-resistant material onto the firearm. The first layer is a corrosion-resistant material and the second layer is an abrasion-resistant material such as ceramic materials, metals, metal alloys, diamond-like carbon coatings, and graphite. The materials may be deposited onto the firearm component by way of electroplating, electroless plating, and/or vapor deposition methods.

U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2014/0230298 to King similarly teaches manufacturing a firearm wherein the components have an anodized finish. The finish is created by any suitable process such as conventional electroplating or electroless nickel plating in order to provide a more durable coating to the firearm.

While the above-mentioned prior art teaches methods for improving the durability and strength of a firearm, the references fail to address the issue of improving the grippability of a firearm using an abrasive or superabrasive material. Micron-sized abrasive and superabrasive materials are commonly used in high performance tools for sawing, grinding, and abrasion purposes, but it is understood that these materials have not yet been utilized on firearms to improve grippability.

As taught by the prior references, electroplating individual components of a firearm using diamond-like carbon provides the opposite effect of improving grippability by creating a smooth, slick surface instead of an abrasive surface.

In use, it is essential that the firearm, namely, the grip and/or the slide, not be too slick as it becomes difficult to operate in certain conditions such as when the shooter's hand becomes moist or sweaty.

Moreover, firearm grips are typically formed from a polymer or may include a rubber coating to ensure the user does not lose control of a firearm during use.

However, while each of the teachings disclosed in the above references may be suitable for the uses and problems they intend to solve, there is an ongoing need for improvements in individual firearm components, such as one which is at least partially coated with a durable and abrasive-resistant material to improve its grippability.

It is to this to which the present invention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides, in a first aspect hereof, a firearm component having improved grippability, the firearm component comprising:

an abrasive material being deposited on at least a portion of the firearm component, the abrasive material selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), sapphire, carbide, and the like.

The abrasive material may be deposited onto the firearm component by any suitable method such as by electroplating, electroless plating, brazing, or the like.

Alternatively, it is to be understood that the abrasive material may be either directly or indirectly applied to the firearm component. Thus, the abrasive material may be deposited onto an adhesive film and, thereafter, the film may be adhered onto any part of the firearm component.

The present invention also provides, in a second aspect hereof, a method of manufacturing a firearm component having improved grippability, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a firearm component;

(b) providing an abrasive material, the abrasive material selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), sapphire, and carbide; and

(c) depositing the abrasive material onto at least a portion of the firearm component.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing and detailed description. In the drawing, like reference characters refer to like parts through the several views, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a firearm having a plurality of firearm components in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a plan view of one of the firearm components hereof being nickel plated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawing, there is shown an improved firearm denoted as 10 having improved grippability.

The firearm 10 depicted herein is a pistol 11. However, it is to be understood that the present invention is equally applicable to other firearms such as revolvers, semi-automatic machine guns, and the like. Therefore, all reference to a “firearm” below should be understood as applying to any such firearm.

As is well-known in the art, a pistol 11, generally, comprises a frame 12 including a grip 14, a trigger guard 16, and a barrel 18.

A magazine 20 is housed within the grip 14. A trigger 22 is disposed within the trigger guard 16 to actuate firing the firearm 10. A slide 24 is slidably mounted atop the barrel 18 for arming or “cocking” the firearm 10 and for loading a bullet from the magazine 20 into position. Oftentimes, firearms, such as a .45 caliber 1911 pistol, further include a front strap 15, a back strap 17, and a pair of grip plates 19 (of which only one is shown), disposed onto respective sides of the grip 14.

It is to be understood that each of the individual components or parts of the firearm 10 described above may be removed from the frame 12 of the firearm 10 and will collectively be referred to as a “firearm component” throughout the ensuing description.

Now, and in accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a firearm component 25 having improved grippability, the firearm component 25 comprising:

an abrasive material deposited onto at least a portion of the firearm component 25, the abrasive material selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), sapphire, and carbide.

It is to be understood that the term “abrasive material” used herein also includes any material qualifying as a superabrasive material.

During operation of a firearm, it is desirable that the grip remain secured within the grasp of the user. Therefore, it is desired that the individual firearm components 25 of the firearm 10, such as the grip 14 and the slide 24, have improved grippability to ensure that the hand of the user does not slip when operating the firearm 10.

To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to at least partially coat the firearm component 25 with an abrasive material without negatively affecting its durability and performance.

As noted above, depositing micron-sized natural diamond, synthetic diamond, CBN, sapphire, or carbide onto at least a portion of the firearm component 25 offers increased corrosion-resistance and abrasive-resistance while, simultaneously, providing an abrasive surface for increasing one's ability to sufficiently operate the firearm 10.

By depositing a layer of an abrasive material, such as diamond particulates 26, which are commonly used and widely commercially available, onto at least a portion of the firearm component 25, the above-mentioned benefits may be achieved.

It is to be understood that it is well known in the art that diamond particulates 26 are formed by grinding down micron-sized natural diamond, synthetic diamond, CBN, sapphire, or carbide using a process called micronization. The diamond particulates 26 may be ground down into a particle of any desired size, commonly referred to as diamond grit, powder, or dust. Alternatively, the diamond particulates 26 may be grown to size through synthesis. CBN and synthetic diamond, when man made, are synthetized under pressure and heat. Therefore, they can be grown to specific mesh or micron sizes. In use herewith, the size of the diamond particulates 26 ranges from about 0.25 microns to about 2500 microns. More particularly, if it is desired to create an extremely coarse abrasive surface, the size of the diamond particulates 26 ranges from about 2000 microns to about 2500 microns. Alternatively, if it is desired to create an extremely fine abrasive surface, the size of the diamond particulates 26 ranges from about 0.25 microns to about 1 micron.

The diamond particulates 26 are deposited onto the firearm component 25, either directly or indirectly as described below, via any suitable means well known in the art such as electroplating, electroless plating, brazing, or the like.

The diamond particulates 26 may be either directly or indirectly deposited onto the firearm component 25. Thus, a film 27 may be at least partially coated with the diamond particulates 26, instead of the firearm component 25, itself, by electroplating, electroless plating, or brazing. The film 27 is then adhered, glued, or otherwise secured onto the firearm 10. This avoids depositing the diamond particulates 26 onto the firearm component 25 directly. As shown, the film 27 is disposed onto a portion of the slide 24. The film 27 may vary in size and shape with various mesh and micron sizes based on the desires of the user. Where the film 27 is adhered onto the firearm component 25, one side of the film 27 may include a peel and stick adhesive in order to directly adhere the film 27.

Furthermore, it is to be appreciated that diamond particulates 26 provide a sharpening surface to almost any material. Therefore, the firearm component 25, having an abrasive exterior in accordance herewith, may serve a secondary function of assisting in the sharpening of one's knives or fish hooks.

Additionally, the firearm 10 may include grooves cut into the grip to provide a frictional surface and ensure that the hand of the user does not slip and to further improve grippability.

Now, and in a second aspect hereof, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a firearm component having improved grippability, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a firearm component 25;

(b) providing an abrasive material, the abrasive material selected from the group consisting of natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride (CBN), sapphire, and carbide; and

(c) depositing the abrasive material onto at least a portion of the firearm component 25.

Preferably, the abrasive material is either natural or synthetic diamond which is deposited onto the firearm component 25 by electroplating. Specifically, the diamond particulates 26 are electroplated onto the firearm component 25 by using a nickel plating technique.

As shown in FIG. 2, the firearm component 25 is depicted as the slide 24. Nickel plating diamond particulates 26 onto the firearm component 25 requires submerging a nickel mass 28, which functions as an anode, and the firearm component 25, which functions as a cathode, into an electrolytic nickel bath 30. The electrolytic nickel bath 30 is a solution comprising an ionic nickel compound dissolved in water in order to allow electricity to flow between the nickel mass 28 and the firearm component 25. The diamond particulates 26 are then introduced into the nickel bath 30 and suspended therein. Oftentimes, an agitation system such as a fluidized bed (not shown) is used to maintain the diamond particulates 26 within their suspended state. A thixotropic agent may also be added to the nickel bath 30 in order to further aid in suspending the diamond particulates 26.

A power supply 32, such as a constant current rectifier, then supplies a direct current to the nickel mass 28 and the firearm component 25. A pair of conducting wires 34, 36 interconnect the nickel mass 28 and the firearm component 25, respectively, to the power supply 32. It is to be understood that one of ordinary skill in the art will be able to calculate the sufficient amount of power to be supplied based on the rate of deposition of nickel onto the firearm component 25. The larger the power supply 32, the faster the rate of electroplating.

As the current from the power supply 32 is applied to the nickel mass 28, nickel atoms are dissolved in the nickel solution. The dissolved nickel atoms then plate out onto the firearm component 25 and attract the diamond particulates 26, thus bonding the diamond particulates 26 to the firearm component 25.

It is to be understood that any other suitable metal may be used in lieu of a nickel mass 28, such as copper, gold, zinc, or the like. Similarly, the electrolytic bath 30 may comprise any other suitable ionic compound based on the metal used in lieu of the nickel mass 28.

Additionally, the location of the suspended diamond particulates 26 may be modified as desired in order to focus the deposition of diamond particulates 26 onto specific areas of the firearm component 25, namely, the top or sides thereof.

To ensure that only specific areas of the firearm component 25 are at least partially coated with the diamond particulates 26, the firearm component 25 may be masked using tape, paint, plating wax, or any combination thereof. Preferably, a seal 29 comprising tape, paint, and plating wax masks the entire firearm component 25. Thereafter, only the specific areas of the firearm component 25 that are to be treated are exposed by carving out at least one portion of the seal 29. The seal 29 may be carved into using any suitable cutting tool, such as a utility knife or the like.

While a pistol may be disassembled in order to deposit the diamond particulates 26 just the slide, the grip, or other parts individually, certain handguns such as a revolver cannot be taken apart as easily. Therefore, when depositing the diamond particulates 26 onto a revolver in accordance herewith, the entire revolver must be masked and sealed. Thereafter, only specific portions of the seal are carved out to provide limited access to the firearm component 25.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the firearm component 25 being electroplated with the diamond particulates 26 provides other desirable benefits due to its abrasive surface such as being able to be used to sharpen a knife.

Alternatively, and as noted above, the diamond particulates 26 may be deposited onto the firearm component 24 by way of electroless plating. Electroless plating is a process by which the firearm component 25 is submerged in a chemical bath or solution and treated with a chemical in order to at least partially coat the firearm component 25. Here, the firearm component 25 functions as both the anode and the cathode. Contrary to electroplating, no power source is required in electroless plating. The diamond particulates 26 are provided in the bath and provide the desired abrasive surface material when the chemical in the bath is attracted to the firearm component 25.

Also noted above, the firearm component 25 may comprise a film 27, preferably, an adhesive film, as shown in FIG. 1, which can be coated with the diamond particulates 26 in the same manner. Thereafter, the film 27 is adhered, glued, or otherwise secured onto any specific part of the firearm 10, such as the grip 14, the slide 24, the front strap 15, the back strap 17, or the grip plates 19 to provide the same benefits.

From the above, it is to be appreciated that defined herein is a new and unique firearm component being at least partially coated with a natural diamond, synthetic diamond, cubic boron nitride, sapphire, or carbide to provide increased abrasion and gripping properties.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   10 Firearm -   12 Frame -   14 Grip -   15 Front strap -   16 Trigger guard -   17 Back strap -   18 Barrel -   19 Grip plate -   20 Magazine -   22 Trigger -   24 Slide -   25 Firearm component -   26 Diamond particulates -   27 Film -   28 Nickel mass -   29 Seal -   30 Nickel bath -   32 Power supply -   34 Conducting wire -   36 Conducting wire 

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:
 1. A firearm component having improved grippability, the firearm component comprising: an abrasive material deposited onto at least a portion of the firearm component, the abrasive material being natural diamond.
 2. The firearm component of claim 1 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from 0.25 microns to about 2500 microns.
 3. The firearm component of claim 2 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from 2000 microns to about 2500 microns.
 4. The firearm component of claim 2 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from about 0.25 microns to about 1 micron.
 5. The firearm component of claim 1 wherein the abrasive material is deposited onto an adhesive strip, the adhesive strip being disposed onto the firearm component.
 6. The firearm component of claim 5 wherein the adhesive strip is metal.
 7. The firearm component of claim 5 wherein the adhesive strip is plastic.
 8. A firearm utilizing the firearm component of claim 1 wherein the firearm component is a slide, the firearm including a frame having a grip and a barrel, the slide slidably mounted atop the barrel of the frame for arming the firearm.
 9. A method of manufacturing a firearm component having improved grippability, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a firearm component; (b) providing an abrasive material, the abrasive material being a natural diamond; and (c) depositing the abrasive material onto at least a portion of the firearm component.
 10. The method of claim 9 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from 0.25 microns to about 2500 microns.
 11. The method of claim 10 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from 2000 microns to about 2500 microns.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the size of the abrasive material ranges from about 0.25 microns to about 1 micron.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein the depositing of the abrasive material onto the firearm component is performed by electroplating.
 14. The method of claim 9 wherein the depositing of the abrasive material onto the firearm component is performed by electroless plating.
 15. The method of claim 9 wherein the depositing of the abrasive material onto the firearm component is performed by brazing.
 16. The method of claim 9 wherein the adhesive material is deposited onto an adhesive strip, the adhesive strip being adhered onto the firearm component.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein the adhesive strip is metal.
 18. The method of claim 16 wherein the adhesive strip is plastic.
 19. The method of claim 9 further comprising: (a) masking the firearm component with tape, paint, and plating wax to create a seal around the firearm component; and (b) carving out a portion of the seal to provide limited access to an area of the firearm component. 